the final presentation of Photojournals and Photo essays was an exciting moment, most of us had worked for about a month, thinking, planning sketching and drafting ideas around those topics we wanted for our essay.

Different things showed up, as groups of images made sense aroun pink& feminity, Numbers, Doors,Mini Graffiti and People´s backs.Amazed to discover each of us point of view, and the variety of things happening out in the streets.

Christine is a friend of a friend that lives in Seattle and this year decided to visit Barcelona while traveling with their son in the south of France.

We got in contact because an american friend living in Barcelona thought it would be nice for them to take pictures and learn a little about Modernist erchitecture during their visit. A complete visit to all relevant modernist buildings in Barcelona would take about one whole week, this including private homes, shops, public buildings and parks. Only Gaudi ´s work would take at least 3 days and our goal was to make it enjoyable in 4 hours.

For photographers and photo amateurs a tour requires a little more time for framing, thinking and shooting, so no place for rushing or running here. Too many wonders in too little time, so we decided to take the left part of the Eixemple district as our territory and explore the most notorious architechts of modernism in this area. So from our previous Modernist circuits we took this part and developed a personal map and a booklet with information on each building, architect and location for each one of them. Our meeting point was at their apartment right in front of Fundación Godia, our first landmark to be visitised.

During the walk we disocovered that Christopher, after working for Microsoft for many years is now a very active photographer with his own website and photography exhibitions in the USA, Christine enjoyed the stories about the Catalan families and their desire for notoriety, in a city that became metropoli keeping a deep smalltown soul. The Harris-Crandall family had a great afternoon to be together, learn, take pictures, shop for local food and discover a little bit of this wonderful city.

Yes, you say Parc Guell and not Park Guell because it is written in catalan, the local language of the city. We discovered a very big sign at the main entrance that makes it very clear.

We were 17 people + 2 instructors, meeting last Saturday at the park to admire and photograph Gaudi´s work in terms of architecture. The day was splendid, because even tough we are in the middle of the winter Barcelona has ha shinny blue sky that gave us bright light, deep shadows and great colors for our pictures. our group was eager to learn more abut aperture and speed so we started exploring the secrets of contrast and aperture on everyone´s cameras. every camera a new discovery and also a wonderful opportunity.

One great thing: the work of Gaudi offer a lot of texture and opportunities to expand photographic techniques and capture, texture, depth and color in a vibrant way. Gaudi´s philosophy about creating a point where architecture and nature interact in an harmonious way is the legacy we have recently discovered in sustainable architecture.

But also, speed was a photographic interest for this group, freezing and registering movement here was not an easy task, because such a splendid day made visitors lay down or recline o enjoy the magnificent view. We could not stop laughing about freezing relaxed people, so we relaxed ourselves and joined them.

Starting July 2009 Photocircuits & Phototours will be collaborating with Guide Out Barcelona, that orange pocket guide everyone uses when visiting the city.

Robert and Cristina, The Guide Out mentors, found that it would very interesting to publish those scenes that visitors to Barcelona capture when they walk around the city taking pictures with us. The best pictures will be published each month together with a credit and an opinion of its author about Barcelona and their experience here.

Since Barcelona is very diverse city, full of amazing places and experiences and so many different people from different cultures and countries constantly visit it, this can be a very interesting place to read all types of opinions, tips and points of view about how Barcelona really is.

Guide Out is the essential tool for Barcelona visitors and it is available at any tourist office in town, it has all the information about the city, shopping, landmarks, museums, cinema, performing arts, restaurants, bars and interesting events in town.

in Photocircuits & Phototours two different types of routes are offered: Basic Walks are for first timers in Barcelona and Pro Walks are for those who already know the city and wish to explore it in a deeper way. History, Architecture, Art, Foreign Cultures, Fashion, Design, Nature and The Beach are just some of the aspects anyone can choose to explore here. All of them providing excitement and the opportunity to learn more about your camera and the way you see the world.

We are happy to encourage visitors to explore in a respectful way every corner of the city and enjoy it bringing wonderful images back home.